Review: Black Infusions Vodkas – Gold Apricot, Dark Cherry, and Black Fig
Black Infusions is based in Bend, Oregon, and their focus is singular: Making fruit-infused vodkas that are free of artificial colors, sugars, and flavors. Each vodka has just two ingredients, vodka and the fruit noted on the label — in this case, apricot, cherry, or fig. Given the depth of color of the spirits, those…
Review: 2021 Yalumba Y Series Viognier
This Australian Viognier is nothing if not a bold wine. The nose exudes honeysuckle, peach, butter, and white flowers. The palate follows the nose nicely and starts with butter and honeysuckle. Peach and perfume notes follow midpalate, along with some gentle minerality. The wine has a big, full mouthfeel, but zippy acidity keeps the wine’s…
Review: Tincup Bourbon Fourteener Release No. 1
Colorado-based Tincup is back with its oldest whiskey yet. Fourteener is billed as a bourbon, unlike its eponymous bottling and Tincup 10 Years Old, both of which are denoted as American Whiskeys, due to the addition of a small amount of Stranahan’s single malt in their final blends. (Update: Tincup says that single malt is no…
Book Review: American Whiskey (Second Edition)
In his forward for the second edition of Richard Thomas’s American Whiskey, Robin Robinson offers up the monumental understatement that the American whiskey industry is “a dynamic industry where change is constant.” That truth is born out just in a quick comparison between the first edition of Mr. Thomas’s book, published in 2019, and the…
Review: Robert Mondavi 2019 Sauvignon Blanc and 2018 The Estates Cabernet Sauvignon
Two new releases from Napa’s iconic Robert Mondavi Winery have just arrived. Let’s dive in. 2019 Robert Mondavi Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley – Initially on the green side, in fact a bit bitter, this wine never quite develops beyond its roots as a grassy, lemon peel-driven experience, culminating in a finish that is heavy on…
Tasting the Sherry-Aged Spirits of Gonzalez Byass (2022)
Gonzalez Byass is one of the largest producers of sherry in Spain, and as any modern drinker knows, the demand for sherry barrels far outweighs the demand for sherry itself. Sherry barrel aging gives all manner of spirits a distinct character, and at some point, Gonzalez Byass figured out it should be making spirits of…
Review: La Marielita Rum 18 Years Old
A new rum has hit the shelves in Florida, California, and New York (available nationally online), and it has a pretty powerful backstory. To wit: Led by Janet Diaz-Bonilla, the first Cuban-American immigrant woman to found and own a rum brand, La Marielita is a proud collaboration of Janet Diaz-Bonilla and fellow Cuban rooted masterminds…
Review: Dutcher Crossing 2019 Costello Chardonnay and 2018 Proprietor’s Cabernet Sauvignon
Two new wines from our friends in Sonoma’s Dutcher Crossing. 2019 Dutcher Crossing Chardonnay Costello Vineyard – This Alexander Valley chardonnay bursts with notes of coconut and guava, then moves into Meyer lemon and baking spice notes. A bit doughy and unctuous, as you’d expect from a Sonoma chardonnay, the oak influence drops ample vanilla…
